An Aries discovered this week that I’m an astrologer and wanted to know, as people usually do, what was going on with her. Mars had stationed retrograde on Monday, but things hadn’t gotten better yet. I understand where she was coming from, because this week wasn’t stellar for me either. If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn that both Mars and Mercury were still retrograde.

Astrology depends on accurate timing. A chart is a map of a moment, frozen in time. However, the cycles we track--aspects, retrogrades, lunar patterns--are moving, ever-evolving things. Most astrological patterns happen in a gradual way. Which means that while it would be nice to think that Mars retrograde frustration is all patched up instantly the moment Mars stations direct, it will take a little longer than that for you to recover. Charts are similar to photographs, frozen images, but when astrologers analyze charts we’re looking at something more akin to a video, with cycles moving forwards and backwards through time.

I don’t get into shadow periods a lot because I don’t want to make it seem like Mercury retrograde is six weeks longer than it actually is. It’s overhyped enough anyway. The shadow period is the period in which a planet moves (direct) through the degrees of the retrograde. This means that every planetary retrograde is effectively a three-part cycle. The pre-shadow period is a kind of preview of the themes that will come up. The retrograde itself is the main event. The post-shadow period is a time to integrate the lessons of the retrograde.

Think of a car slowing down from 80 miles per hour to a dead stop. That’s the pre-shadow period. The car slows gradually, not instantly. Once the planet stations retrograde, imagine for the sake of this example that the car has come to a full stop. Time to just sit, reflect and enjoy the scenery. When the planet stations direct, the car begins speeding up again. But it doesn’t go from 0 to 80 immediately. It happens gradually, over a short period of time. That’s your post-shadow period.

Your Mars car is revving up again, but you’ll have to give it a little time before it’s going full speed towards your desires. Mercury is out of shadow on September 2nd. Mars will officially be out of shadow on October 8th. In my experience, it’s the first few days after an inner planet stations direct that require your continued patience. The rest of the shadow period should be less intense. Don’t worry; your car will start moving faster!

As with everything in life, astrology has no silver bullets, and no instantaneous rewards. Astrology only allows us to see and work with continuous cycles. Expect that we will always be participating in a series of cycles, because the only constant here is change.

This partial solar eclipse is at 18.41 Leo on August 11 at 5:57 am

It's the second-to-last eclipse in our Leo-Aquarius eclipse cycle. The last one will be a total lunar eclipse in Leo on January 21, 2019. Normally, I would say that the new moon is a time for setting intentions that you can act on once the moon begins waxing. This one is a little different, though, because the solar eclipse happens to be next to Mercury retrograde in Leo at a time when nearly everything else is retrograde, too. The moon and Mercury Rx are also squaring Jupiter in Scorpio.

Since October 2017, Jupiter in Scorpio has been solving mysteries and uncovering long-buried secrets. We've all been in a collective process of recovery: uncovering "open secrets" about patterns of sexual harassment and abuse, recovering from abuses of power, and resisting the secrecy of those who want to bury the truth. In your own private life you may be recovering hidden memories and truths, or undergoing a kind of initiation by Jupiter into knowledge of the mysterious. This solar eclipse is very much about this kind of recovery: a recovery of self.

The Leo-Aquarius eclipse cycle has been about allowing yourself and others to shine individually while creating a collective vision for the future. All of the axes of signs are described with a set of balanced or paradoxical archetypes. The two signs complement each other. Leo and Aquarius are along the axis of individual and community. When an individual dares to be different, shining brightly, he or she will almost always create a community of people who appreciate that individuality, and together they develop a shared vision. Having the courage to stand alone, paradoxically, brings us together.

With Mercury retrograde in Leo squaring Jupiter right now, you are uncovering something important about yourself. It may be some special weirdness that you've hidden from the rest of the world in an act of self-preservation, or a latent talent you almost forgot that you had. You might decide to free yourself from a secret that you're tired of keeping to protect someone else's reputation. You might remember something that was once repressed, or find something you once lost. This eclipse has an element of memoir to it. You are declaring ownership of your story and re-telling it in your own words.

I find it metaphorically resonant that this eclipse happened at dawn, just as the sun was coming up over the horizon. Discovery can happen like daybreak: a shadow passes over and the light returns, and nothing is ever the same again. Internally, you are reflecting on the changes that have occurred throughout this eclipse cycle since February 2017. You have recovered something about yourself, and you're getting ready to share that with the people who recognize your true belonging.

You might want to know what's going down for you in March. With two full moons, Mercury retrograde in Aries, Mars meeting Saturn in Capricorn, and Venus sashaying into Taurus, it's a lot. Horoscopes are up. Let the March madness begin!

Work With Me

Bustle quoted me again, this time in an article about how to tell if someone with air sign placements is crushing on you. Link in bio!⠀
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"In order for an air sign to really start crushing on you, they'll need to connect with you on an intellectual level first. "Good conversation is essential to them," Goss says. So they may ask for your opinion on things like politics, pop culture, or anything that's worth talking about. According to Goss, air signs are the most driven by the exchange of ideas. "This lets them show off their natural intelligence and cleverness," she says. "They also do it because they really want to get to know you."⠀
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Image Credit: Andrew Zaeh for Bustle.⠀
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#airsigns #gemini #libra #aquarius #crush #astrology #astrologersofinstagram #love #astrologyofrelationships #relationshipastrology

Just for fun! I was featured in Bustle's article on earth signs. Want to know if a Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn is crushing on you? Link in bio.⠀
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'"Earth signs deal with the realm of the material, so someone with earth sign placements is likely to show romantic interest in material and practical ways," Goss says. They may show their interested through physical touch. For instance, they may place their hand on your arm when you're touching or stay close when you're walking together.'⠀
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#earthsigns #taurus #virgo #capricorn #astrology #astrologylove #crush #crushing #astrologersofinstagram #love

Your weekly horoscopes are up! Link in bio.⠀
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Mercury enters Taurus today, where he slows down and contemplates before speaking, if he speaks at all. Mercury here is more about doing: growing things, building things, and expressing oneself through the manifestation of effort. Actions speak louder than words now. Mercury meets Uranus, sometimes called the higher octave of Mercury, in this sign (exact May 8th). Again, those themes of rewilding, radical pleasure, and the economy come to the forefront. What are you doing to rewild?⠀
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#astrology #horoscopes #horoscope #mercuryintaurus #uranusintaurus #rewild #astrologersofinstagram #cosmicwisdom #rebels

Read the Taurus new moon lunar letter & subscribe for more! Link in bio.⠀
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Some of that knowing comes through your nightdreams. Some of it comes through your daydreams: those visions of your future self that you just know are going to be real. You know it in your bones. If you tried to explain the embodied knowledge of your daydream self to someone else, that person might think you were talking about a wish, not a knowing. But if your body knows that something is true, you have to trust that. You don't have to tell anyone about it, and in fact it might feel safer not to. Let them be mystified. Go with your gut. Trust your bones.⠀
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#taurus #taurusseason #taurusgang #embodiedknowledge #embodied #body #knowing #trust #trustyourbones #trustyourgut #daydreams #dreams #astrology #astrologersofinstagram #newsletter #lunarletter #newmoon #newmoonintaurus #taurusnewmoon #beltane #beltaine #spring #darkmoon #taurusmoon

It's Beltane and I'm taking the day to do some non-business-related activities: reading, writing poetry, planting, and candle-making. I don't think about having a "balance" between "work" and "life" because so much of my work now is a joy, and I'm grateful for that. I think instead about the wheel of my life: business, creative play, health, home, relationships, spirituality...and how much attention everything is getting. Is every plant in the garden of my life getting water and sunlight? Some need more than others at different times.
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In reading Team Human, I'm confronting my complicity with algorithmic systems like Instagram, designed to capture attention, persuade us to purchase, extract data, and keep us hungry for more. It's a sick system that I have chosen to avoid as much as possible in my personal life. The conundrum is in running a business when social media has become the marketplace. I am also here to persuade, but I am more interested in commerce, in running a sustainable business, than I am in constant growth. I want to reach those who are ready to awaken their consciousness with astrology and coaching so I can help them recover their own power and transcend this exploitative game. And I'm on here because I have to meet you where you are. Maybe my way of being a spoilsport is to invite you to read long book passages on a photo app, and to make those book passages about breaking the system?
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Oh, and btw, I got this from the public library. It's great; it's like an IRL internet where you can access all kinds of knowledge for free, except the information is much more likely to be accurate. + NO ADS.
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Read Team Human. Find the Others.
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#beltane #witchesofinstagram #worklifebalance #reading #librariesrock #bookstagram #books #spoilsport #stayweird #teamhuman #findtheothers

Your weekly horoscopes are up! Link in bio.⠀
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Saturn stations retrograde at 21 degrees of Capricorn today. Just like every year, this retrograde lasts about 4 ½ months. Saturn will station direct at 14 degrees of Capricorn on September 18th. If you have personal planets between 14-21 degrees of Cardinal signs, you’re getting another taste of this salty Saturn transit this summer. This is yet another opportunity to reflect on your relationship to responsibility. What do you expect to reap, based on what you’ve sown so far? Are any of your actions out of alignment with your sense of integrity? Recognize real limitations and either work within them or work hard to push beyond them in responsible ways.⠀
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Image: Zodiac symbols painted Relief on the terrace of a Gopuram at Kanipakam Lord Shiva temple, via Wikimedia Commons⠀
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#astrology #astrologersofinstagram #astrologyposts #starstuff #spaceweather #cosmos #cosmicwisdom #asabovesobelow #rebelastrology #rebels #horoscopes #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces

Happy to hear this feedback from my client Desiree, after her Story of You Consultation last week!⠀
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Want to tie some things together in your own life? Book a session! Use the link in my bio.⠀
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DM with questions about my services. I'm always happy to talk to you!⠀
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#astrology #astrologersofinstagram #astrologyposts #starstuff #spaceweather #cosmos #cosmicwisdom #asabovesobelow #rebelastrology #rebels #astrologyreadings #birthchartreadings #birthchart

Have you ever reached that point when you were so clear on what you had to do that the fear dropped away?⠀
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Fear has no chance when our minds are made up. Fear loosens its grip on us when we have clarity about what must be done.⠀
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Clarity has that power. It diminishes fear the way light chases away the darkness.⠀
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What do you know is right? What do you know you have to do? What difference do you know you can make, right now, today? ⠀
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#wednesdaywisdom #quotes #rosaparks #womeninhistory #blackhistory #women #feminism #coach #lifecoach #coaching #fear #clarity

I was trying to do work @cocoagrinder but then I found this Mysteries of the Unknown series that Time-Life published in the 80s so nevermind.
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#bookstagram #mysteriesoftheunknown #occultbooks #80saesthetic #fridaymood #spiritsummonings

As the moon waxed to total fullness last night, I was in a room full of amazing women talking about equal pay with @ladiesgetpaid & @hiredinc. I went to this event to watch a microdocumentary about the gender pay gap, and listen to a panel of successful women talk about how we can close it. I heard stories from women who found out that they were making as much as $80,000 less than their male coworkers for doing the same job. And by the way, it's not because women don't negotiate. We do; we just don't get the salaries we ask for. We need to continue to ask for the money we deserve. We need to do research to find out what other people are being paid for the same jobs and experience, we need more pay transparency, and we need to hold companies accountable for compensation equality. There are a lot of things people say to make this issue seem more complicated, about women leaving work to have kids, or being overrepresented in underpaid jobs like teaching. But it's not really a complicated issue. It's simple discrimination. And the simple answer would be to value women and the work that women do the way we value the contributions of men. And pay us all equally. Now. This is what the higher potential of Uranus in Taurus represents to me: changing the economy. Knowing our worth. Rising up and demanding what we deserve. ⠀
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More on this + the Libra full moon in the Lunar Letter. Read & subscribe thru the link in my bio!⠀
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#nothingless #equalpay #ladiesgetpaid #feminism #astrology #astrologersofinstagram #astrologyposts #starstuff #spaceweather #cosmos #cosmicwisdom #asabovesobelow #rebelastrology #rebels